Conservation in Mexico - Monthly Update May 2009

With the high season for turtle nesting just around the corner, we are truly lucky to have the help of our volunteers at the moment.

Their help makes the difference between a successful high season nest collection and a mediocre one.

It is vital at this time that we carry out important activities like maintenance work, clearing areas, treating the sand in the corral and constructing the warehouse. Without the help of the volunteers this work would not get completed in the time we have available.

We are now well prepared and looking forward to the meeting the new challenges when the rains come, and lots and lots of turtles come to lay their eggs on our beautiful beaches.

Our presence here has been of great impact in this area and this is reflected in the numbers of nests collected in past seasons, as shown on the 'nests collected graph'.

Nests collected graph

We also have exciting news regarding our biodiversity project. We recently had the chance to attend the official meeting to declare our lagoon, 'El Chupadero' a Ramsar Site. The ceremony took place in Colima with the presence of the National Commissioner from CONANP (National Council of Natural Protected Areas) Ernesto Enkerlin C. Hoeflich.

The CONANP staff also congratulated us on our work in the area and mentioned the importance of our results in the studies that resulted in this declaration.

To clearly explain what a Ramsar site is, I'll include a quote from the Ramsar Convention Manual:

'The Convention on Wetlands or The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty, the first of the modern global intergovernmental treaties on the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It reflects the original emphasis upon the conservation and wise use of wetlands primarily as habitat for waterbirds.

Over the years, however, the Convention has broadened its scope of implementation to cover all aspects of wetland conservation and wise use, recognizing wetlands as ecosystems that are extremely important for biodiversity conservation and for the well-being of human communities.'

It is fantastic that our work here has been recognized with this official recognition of the importance of the lagoon area.